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Biomedical subjects

D Shearer

Publications and source records attributed to D Shearer.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Relationships between respiration, ethylene, and aroma production in ripening banana.

Mature green bananas were treated with the ethylene antagonist 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) at intervals during the 24 h period after initiation of ripening with propylene. Following 1-MCP treatment, the fruits were ripened in either air or propylene while ethylene, carbon dioxide, and volatile production and composition were monitored at regular intervals. The application of 1-MCP significantly delayed and suppressed the onset and magnitude of fruit respiration and volatile production. The 1-MCP treatments also caused a quantitative change in the composition of the aroma volatiles, resulting in a substantial increase in the concentration of alcohols and a decrease in their related esters. The results showed that ethylene has a continuing role in integrating many of the biochemical processes that take place during the ripening of bananas.

Alcohols↗
PubMed1998

Detection of drug use during pregnancy.

Several methods of drug testing are efficacious in identifying and monitoring drug use during pregnancy. Urine screening remains the most commonly used method despite the limited period during which drugs can be detected. Hair has been recognized as a possible alternate test specimen, but wider acceptance of hair testing must await better understanding of drug disposition in hair, answers to the issues relating to interpretation, and the development of less demanding laboratory techniques. Regardless of the matrix used, proper interpretation of the results of drug testing requires familiarity with the sensitivity, specificity, and limitations of the laboratory methodologies employed. Moreover, unconfirmed positive results may actually be false-positives and must be interpreted with caution, particularly if they are the basis for major clinical decisions.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed1997

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in the myenteric plexus of streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the gut. Alterations in NO mediated responses have been described in diabetic animals. The presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) reflects the potential for NO synthesis and is found in neurons in the myenteric plexus. The aim of this study was to determine changes in nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in the myenteric plexus of the gastrointestinal tract of diabetic rats at three months of streptozotocin-induced diabetes, compared to age matched controls, using immunohistochemistry. Diabetic animals showed a decrease in NOS expression in the antrum, with 59.1 +/- 7.3% of neurons being positive for NOS in diabetes compared to 81.2 +/- 4.7% in controls (P < 0.05). NOS expression in duodenum, ileum, and colon of diabetic animals was not statistically different from controls. Decreased expression of NOS in antrum may contribute to altered gastric emptying observed in diabetics.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Prevention of chronic cerebral vasospasm in dogs with milrinone.

OBJECTIVE: Delayed cerebral ischemia resulting from vasospasm is a major cause of morbidity and death in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Milrinone, because it inhibits Type IV cyclic adenosine monophosphate-specific phosphodiesterase enzyme in both cardiac and vascular smooth muscle, is a powerful inotrope and vasodilator, but it has little effect on heart rate or blood pressure. Because of these properties, milrinone is an attractive potential therapy after subarachnoid hemorrhage. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of milrinone on chronic experimental cerebral vasospasm. METHODS: A double-hemorrhage canine model of vasospasm was used to study the efficacy of milrinone. Angiographic vasospasm and systemic hemodynamics were compared in a treatment group of animals that received a loading dose of milrinone (0.05 mg/kg, intravenously) and then slow-release (0.05 microgram/kg/min) milrinone pellets (n = 10) and a control group that received placebo pellets (n = 9), over an 8-day period after the initial subarachnoid hemorrhage. The hemorrhage was created by injection of 4 ml of autologous, nonheparinized, arterial blood into the cisterna magna on Days 1 and 3. Hemodynamic measurements, including cardiac output determinations, were made on Days 0, 1, 3, 6, and 8 with a pulmonary artery catheter, and angiographic vasospasm was assessed on Day 8 by comparison with baseline angiograms. RESULTS: Treatment with milrinone caused no significant changes in systemic hemodynamics. Angiographic vasospasm, however, was significantly reduced in the Day 8 angiograms for the treated group, compared with the control group (98.28 +/- 14.06 and 67.89 +/- 13.06% of original vessel cross-sectional area, respectively; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Milrinone is effective in preventing chronic cerebral vasospasm in a canine model of experimental chronic cerebral vasospasm. This effect is independent of changes in systemic hemodynamics. Milrinone and related drugs warrant further investigation for the treatment of cerebral vasospasm.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Effect of facial familiarity and task requirement on electrodermal activity.

We examined the effect of facial familiarity and task requirement on electrodermal activity (EDA). Proposed models of facial recognition suggest a sequential process wherein a recognition of familiarity precedes any identity-specific search. Prior research has indicated that an automatic increase in EDA occurs to familiar faces. We reexamined this effect while manipulating the task requirement. One group of subjects was required to identify (name) faces, and a control group was required to rate facial attractiveness. The results indicated that an increase in EDA to familiar faces occurred only when coupled with the identification task. No increase in EDA occurred when subjects were rating facial attractiveness and presented with a familiar face.

Discrimination, Psychological↗
PubMed1984

Limitations of visual assessment of redistribution in thallium images.

Potential limitations of visual assessment of redistribution in thallium (TI) images were studied and results were compared with computer assessment of redistribution. A four-section phantom filled with TI was imaged (300K counts, 128 X 128 matrix) with appropriate background activity and scatter material. Activity in a "defect" section (DS) was varied from 20% to 100% of reference sections (RS). After interpolative background correction, pseudo "initial" and "late" image pairs (N = 35) were photographed on polaroid film and read by three "blinded" observers using an 0-2, 1/2 step, scale (0 = absent and 2 = normal activity). Scan defects were detected by all readers when DS activity was less than or equal to 59% of RS activity. No reader detected a defect when DS activity was greater than or equal to 67% of RS activity. All "initial" defects were detected by computer analysis. Visual assessment of "initial" DS:RS activity ratio did not correlate well with DS:RS activity ratio of the phantom. In contrast, computer assessment of "initial" DS:RS activity ratio correlated well with phantom DS:RS activity ratio (r = 0.96, p less than .0001). Although 22 of 27 scan pairs with partial (N = 26) or full (N = 1) redistribution were correctly identified as showing redistribution by at least two of three observers, the extent of redistribution was not estimated well by visual analysis. Thus, visual assessment of absolute change ("initial"-to-"late") in DS:RS activity ratio showed considerable scatter in relations to actual changes in DS:RS activity ratio of the phantom.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Computers↗
PubMed1976

Interfacing a programmable desk calculator to a hard-wired data system.

The primary disadvantage of hard-wired data systems for use in nuclear medicine is the fact that that the data contained in the memory bank are not accessible to the user and often must be processed mathematically before they can be employed in interpretation, particularly in dynamic studies. The authors describe a relatively inexpensive programmable device which can be used in conjunction with the data system and overcomes these limitations to a great extent.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Radiation exposure to patients receiving routine scoliosis radiography measured at depth in an anthropomorphic phantom.

Concern about the amount of radiation received during scoliosis evaluation and treatment led us to measure radiation exposure in an anthropomorphic phantom to determine the increased risk of breast cancer in young women with scoliosis. Assuming that 22 radiographic examinations were performed over the course of scoliosis treatment, the increased relative risk of breast cancer was determined to be 0.22% in these patients.

Adolescent↗